Tuesday Morning Headlines

IAEA finds uranium traces at Syrian site: diplomats
By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.N. investigators have found traces of uranium at a Syrian site Washington says was a secret nuclear reactor almost built before Israel bombed the target last year, diplomats said on Monday.

They said the minute uranium particles turned up in some environmental swipe samples U.N. inspectors took at the site in a visit last June. They said the finding was not enough to draw conclusions but raised concerns requiring further clarification.

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Fed approves American Express as bank holding company

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Board has approved an application by American Express Co to become a bank holding company, the central bank said on Monday.

The move will allow American Express to secure funds from deposits, which could be cheaper than borrowing in bond markets.

"In light of the unusual and exigent circumstances affecting the financial markets ... the Board has determined that emergency conditions exist that justify expeditious action on this proposal," the Fed said in a statement.

American Express follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley, which became bank holding companies after decades of having relied on debt markets for funding.

American Express' borrowing costs relative to a benchmark rate have risen dramatically this year as investors have become increasingly skittish about the company facing rising customer defaults.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USTRE4A97Z920081110

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Listen to Hamas

By Haaretz Editorial

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the ousted prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, described "the territories of 1967" as the territory of the Palestinian state "at this time." He told Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass that the Hamas government had previously made it clear that it was willing to accept a Palestinian state that followed the 1967 borders and to offer Israel a long-term hudna, or truce, if Israel recognized the Palestinians' national rights, as Haaretz reported Sunday.

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The following is a good read by Ali Abunimah, co-founder of Electronic Intifada that was published on November 5th. The article examines President-elect Obama's selection of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff.

Obama picks pro-Israel hardliner for top post
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 5 November 2008

During the United States election campaign, racists and pro-Israel hardliners tried to make an issue out of President-elect Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein. Such people might take comfort in another middle name, that of Obama's pick for White House Chief of Staff: Rahm Israel Emanuel.

Emanuel is Obama's first high-level appointment and it's one likely to disappoint those who hoped the president-elect would break with the George W. Bush Administration's pro-Israel policies. White House Chief of Staff is often considered the most powerful office in the executive branch, next to the president. Obama has offered Emanuel the position according to Democratic party sources cited by media including Reuters and The New York Times. While Emanuel is expected to accept the post, that had not been confirmed by Wednesday evening the day after the election.

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Starbucks 4Q profit drops 97 pct on closure costs
By Lauren Shepherd, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Fewer U.S. customers and venti-sized costs for closing poorly performing stores led to lower sales and profit in the fourth quarter at Starbucks Corp., the company said Monday.

The quarter's results came at the end of a transition year for the coffee retailer, in which former Chief Executive Howard Schultz took back the reins of the company to again fill the CEO and chairman posts.

Seattle-based Starbucks said profit in the quarter fell 97 percent to $5.4 million, or a penny a share, from $158.5 million, or 21 cents per share. The coffee retailer earned 10 cents per share when the costs from closing about 600 stores in the U.S. and 61 locations in Australia are excluded.

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From Democray Now!

Obama’s Afghan Plan Includes Iran, Taliban Talks

On foreign policy, the Washington Post is reporting the incoming Obama administration is planning what it calls a “more regional strategy” to the occupation of Afghanistan. The plan leaves open the possibility of holding talks with Iran and elements of the Taliban. Obama would also seek to renew what he’s called an aborted effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Obama has already vowed to increase the US troop deployment there.

Israel Blocks Gaza Fuel Deliveries

In Israel and the Occupied Territories, the Israeli government has re-imposed a cutoff of fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip. Gaza’s main power plant shut down last night, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians without electricity. Areas across the Strip were plunged into darkness, and hospitals reported imminent shortages that could shut them down. Israel authorized a limited shipment earlier today. Israel has imposed several fuel blockades on Gaza, citing Palestinian rocket fire on nearby Israeli towns. Visiting Gaza, British Parliament member Nazir Ahmed said Israel should face international isolation for its siege of Gaza.

Nazir Ahmed: “It’s time that the international community said enough is enough, and if Israel is prepared to go down this route, then they must face isolation. This is unacceptable at a time when people of Gaza are already suffering. We have seen the result of bombing [of the plant last year], and those equipment has not been replaced even now. The capacity of this plant is down to one-third when it was supplying half of the Gazan electricity.”

As darkness fell across Gaza Monday, hundreds of children gathered for a candlelight vigil to protest the blockade. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called the move an act of collective punishment.

Ismail Haniyeh: “This is not a breach of truce. This is a programmed Israeli policy, and the Egyptian host of this truce should interfere for the sake of stopping the daily bloodshed of the Palestinian people.”

Haniyeh: Hamas Would Accept 1967 Borders

Israel’s fuel blockade comes just days after Haniyeh said Hamas would accept a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. A 1967-based solution would mean Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where Israel continues to build settlements. Haniyeh made the comments at a meeting with European lawmakers who had sailed from Cyprus to protest Israel’s Gaza blockade.

Source: Democracy Now!

Monday Morning Headlines

U.S. Provides More Aid to Big Insurer

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH, NYTimes

Key Points:

• "The revised bailout came as A.I.G. reported a loss Monday of $24.47 billion, or $9.05 a share in the third quarter, after a profit of $3.09 billion, or $1.19 a share, a year ago."
• "When the restructured deal is complete, taxpayers will have invested and lent a total of $150 billion to A.I.G., the most the government has ever directed to a single private enterprise. It is a stark reversal of the government’s assurance that its earlier moves had stemmed the bleeding at A.I.G.."
• "The new deal makes the government a long-term investor in A.I.G., something that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had said he hoped to avoid."
• "Finally, the government will invest another $22.5 billion in A.I.G. to help the company buy residential mortgage-backed securities that it also insured, and similarly place them into another entity off the company’s balance sheet. A.I.G. will put up $1 billion itself."

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US Admits to Killing 37 Afghans in Attack on Wedding

In Afghanistan, the US has admitted to killing thirty-seven civilians and wounding dozens more in a military attack last week. The victims were bombed as they attended a wedding party outside the city of Kandahar. The Pentagon says the US bombed the area after coming under fire from nearby militants. It was the Pentagon’s quickest admission of a mass killing of Afghan civilians to date. It took nearly two months before the US admitted killing up to ninety civilians in a similar attack in August.

Source: Democracy Now!

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Secret Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda in Many Countries

By ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI,NYTimes

Key Points:

• "[M]ilitary raids, typically carried out by Special Operations forces, were authorized by a classified order that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004 with the approval of President Bush"
• "Some of the military missions have been conducted in close coordination with the C.I.A., according to senior American officials, who said that in others, like the Special Operations raid in Syria on Oct. 26 of this year, the military commandos acted in support of C.I.A.-directed operations."
• "The 2004 order was a step in the evolution of how the American government sought to kill or capture Qaeda terrorists around the world. It was issued after the Bush administration had already granted America’s intelligence agencies sweeping power to secretly detain and interrogate terrorism suspects in overseas prisons and to conduct warrantless eavesdropping on telephone and electronic communications."
• "The Pentagon has exercised its authority frequently, dispatching commandos to countries including Pakistan and Somalia. Details of a few of these strikes have previously been reported."
• "Administration officials said that Mr. Bush’s approval had paved the way for Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to sign an order — separate from the 2004 order — that specifically directed the military to plan a series of operations, in cooperation with the C.I.A., on the Qaeda network and other militant groups linked to it in Pakistan."

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Israeli soldier beats Palestinian laborers with rock; three in hospital with multiple fractures
Ma'an News Agency

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Olmert: To honor Rabin, Israel must cede land

Haaretz Newspaper

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Friday Morning Headlines

US Holds $50 Billion of Iraq’s Financial Reserves Hostage

The Independent of London reports the United States is holding hostage some $50 billion of Iraq’s money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement to prolong the US occupation indefinitely. Patrick Cockburn reports the Federal Reserve continues to hold Iraq’s financial reserves as a legacy of the international sanctions against Saddam Hussein. US negotiators are threatening to remove tens of billions of dollars of Iraq’s money to settle outstanding court judgments dating back to the 1980s unless Iraq accepts the highly controversial military deal. The deal would allow the US to permanently keep more than fifty military bases in Iraq. American forces would also be able to continue to carry out arrests of Iraqi citizens and conduct military campaigns without consultation with the Iraqi government. American soldiers and contractors will enjoy legal immunity.

D.C. Police Set Up Neighborhood Checkpoints

The Washington Examiner reports police in Washington, D.C. plan to begin sealing off entire neighborhoods, setting up checkpoints and kicking out strangers, under a new program to combat violence. Under a directive issued by Police Chief Cathy Lanier, officers will stop cars at the checkpoints, record all license plate numbers and ask drivers why they are visiting the neighborhood. The directive allows officers to turn away anyone who does not have a legitimate reason for entering the neighborhood. Motorists who resist answering questions from police officers will be arrested for failure to obey an officer. D.C. Councilman Harry Thomas said he is worried Washington, D.C. is “moving towards a police state."

Senate Report: Bush Deliberately Distorted Pre-War Intelligence

In other Iraq news, a newly released Senate report has concluded President George Bush and his top policymakers deliberately distorted Saddam Hussein’s links to al-Qaeda and ignored doubts among intelligence agencies about Iraq’s arms programs as they made a case for war. Sen. John Rockefeller, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee said the report shows the administration “led the nation to war on false premises.”

Source: Democracy Now!